Want to see 'Lincoln'? You can go to Lufkin

By by dianna wray/dwray@vicad.com
Dec. 12, 2012 at 6:12 a.m.

Why don't we get "Lincoln"?

Four score and seven years ago - OK, so it was last month - "Lincoln" came out on screens across America.

I was giddy with excitement. As a longtime admirer of the president, "Team of Rivals," the book the movie was based in part on, Tony Kushner, the author of the screenplay, and Steven Spielberg, I had been waiting to see this movie since I first heard Spielberg was making it about five years ago.

Then, I checked to see what time it would be showing at Cinemark 12 in Victoria. None.

Well, maybe it would be showing next weekend, I thought. After all, Victoria isn't the biggest town in the world. "Lincoln" is a big movie, but our theater is just 12 screens - maybe they're waiting to get it in right before the holidays. But then, Thanksgiving came and went, and Cinemark had the final installment of "Twilight" showing continuously, while "Skyfall" and "Flight" and even the likes of "Red Dawn" made appearances, but no "Lincoln."

I've never understood the mysteries of movie theater operation. Why do some places sell Raisinets but not Milk Duds? Why do other places offer a variety of movies catering to both my longing for sticky-sweet, rom-com junk and high-fallutin' takes on how the 16th president handled his political deals while also fighting the Civil War, while some movie theaters do not?

It's a mystery. The Cinemark in Lufkin is a 12-screen theater catering to a population of about 35,000, and in the nearest big city, more than 120 miles away from Houston, it has had "Lincoln" for weeks.

The people of Texarkana, with a population roughly the same as Victoria's, have been able to take in the stunning performance by Daniel Day Lewis of the titular character at their 14-screen Cinemark for ages.

While it has always seemed like a good bet that "Lincoln" would be an award-winning critical darling, the film has also turned out to be a monster hit. It's been so popular that Disney, the distributor of the DreamWorks film, made more prints of the historical drama to send to Alaska, where the smaller theaters had been overlooked, according to an Associated Press story. Alaska.

However, even out there in the snowy tundra, those itching to see the show may still have to wait since the movie theaters have filled in their schedules for the holiday. Meanwhile, here in the Crossroads, we can watch the previews for "Lincoln." That's kind of like watching the movie.